Marine communities are increasingly affected by numerous stressors that act as agents of physical and biological disturbance through a combination of natural and human-induced impacts. These include storms, sedimentation, temperature changes, pollution, eutrophication, over-harvesting, damage to habitats, arrival of invasive species and climate change. Here I discuss how multiple stressors alter assemblages on rocky reefs through direct impacts on organisms and indirectly through altered ecological relationships, recruitment and regenerative processes. The ability to recover from stressors is a function of their intensity, magnitude, spatial and temporal extent, and the susceptibilities and resilience of organisms, communities and ecosystems. Multiple levels of understanding will be required as society acts to predict, solve and mitigate coastal problems.